HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN AND THE LITTLE MERMAID

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)

Copenhagen is the home of Hans Christian Andersen and although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels and poems, he is probably best known for his story of The Little Mermaid. Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark in 1805 and died in Copenhagen in 1875. 

The mermaid's story goes like this:

One day, a young mermaid spies a a passing ship and falls in love with a handsome human prince. The ship is wrecked in a storm and she saves the prince's life. To be with the prince, the mermaid asks a sea witch to give her legs. In exchange, she agrees to give up her voice and the chance of ever returning to the sea. The witch tells her if the prince doesn't marry her, she will immediately die heartbroken and without an immortal soul. The mermaid agrees and her fish tail becomes a pair of beautiful but painful legs. She woos the prince - who loves her in return - but he eventually marries another. Heartbroken, the mermaid prepares to die. She is given one last chance to save herself : She must kill the prince on his wedding night. She sneaks into the bedroom with a knife ... but can't bear to kill the man she loves. The mermaid throws herself into the sea to die. Suddenly she is miraculously carried up by the mermaids of the air who give her an immortal soul as a reward for her long suffering love. (Try reading that as a bedtime story to your children/grandchildren)

The tale of unrequited love mirrors Andersen's own sad love life. He had two major crushes, for the famous opera singer, Jenny Lind, but she turned him down both times and he never married. Scholar's with access to Andersen's diaries believe he was bisexual and died a virgin. He is said to have feared he would lose his artistic drive if he actually made love to another person. His dearest male friend, Edvard Collin inherited Andersen's entire estate.

The bronze statue of the Little Mermaid has become a symbol of Copenhagen. The statue was a gift to the city of Copenhagen by brewing magnate Carl Jacobsen. Inspired by a ballet performance of Andersen's story, Jacobsen hired the young sculptor Edvard Eriksen to immortalise the mermaid as a statue. Eriksen used his wife Eline as the model.